Volume 1, Issue 13
December 6, 2011
Upcoming Events
December 13-16– Finals week. To
see your final exam schedule,
please click here.
December 17th: Last day of Fall
Semester
January 9th: Spring Semester begins
***SVO will be collecting toys for Tots
for Tots until December 16th. You may
drop toys off at the following locations:
Lucina Room 204 (Veterans
Affairs Office)
The Learning Center (North Quad
350)
Theater Department’s Main
Office AC 306
Theater Department’s Dance
Office AC 306
Five Questions With…
Blake Hoppes
Military Affiliation: Army National
Guard. My MOS is 25B
Major: Computer Science
Hobbies: Skateboarding, Writing,
Video Games
Favorite Military Memory: Favorite
Military memory would have to the
first time I got to shoot a M240B.
Before joining the military, I had
never really fired anything let alone a
machine gun. So shooting that was
just an awesome experience and
was really thrilling. I loved it.
Advice to other student veterans: Get
in a routine and stick with it. Once
you get into the flow of things, it will
make everything easier and you
won't even really have to think too
much about your day.
Mission Possible: Ball State’s
Student Veteran Newsletter
Ball State University
An end of the semester message from Beck Hannaford
I wanted to take a moment and express my appreciation to the Ball State Veterans
and Family Community for all
that you have accomplished this
past semester. Our goal has
been to establish a relationship
of trust with each student, and
to offer professional support and
encouragement so that every
student can graduate from Ball
State University. With this end
in mind, we conducted the first
Veteran’s orientation program,
established our SALUTE Honor
Program, enjoyed tailgating at
the BSU Army Football Game,
hosted Ft. Leonard Wood soldiers during the campus visit,
and held what I think is the
greatest Veteran’s Day Celebration in the history of Ball State—
certainly the largest in my 5 year
tenure in the Veteran’s office. Also, our work study student Hondo Tamez wrote, and
presented at the Military Family
Research Institute Grant Competition and won $2,000 for the
Ball State Student Veterans
Organization. And, tonight, we
are celebrating at Greek’s Pizza
to relax before final exams. These successes were
the result of hard work and
dedication by our team members Dr. Jennifer Haley, Dr.
Jackie Harris, Mr. Gary Ritz,
and GA Alyssa Heggen. We
also owe a debt of thanks to
our entire SVO leadership team
of Kenneth Winner,
Hondo Tamez, and
Blake Hoppes. Finally,
none of this would have
been possible without
the financial support of
the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue. You may not realize it, but Ball State
students have access to
more support services than any
other college or university in
Indiana. Bar none. Thank you
all for a great semester.
But our work is not
done. We still have “room for
development” in the area of
student retention and gradua-
tion. Too many of our brothers and sisters did not reenroll
this past August, perhaps
falling victim to transition
issues, or a lack of focus. For
these Veterans and family
members, we will continue our
efforts of support and encouragement with the goal of empowering every student to
earn a diploma from Ball
State University.
Congratulations on a
great semester. Merry Christmas to all! We look forward to
working with you next semester.
-Beck Hannaford, SCO Ball
State University
The “Basics”: Nailing Essay Exams
Essay exams give students the opportunity to show
off. You can select from your
knowledge examples and details
of what you have learned rather
than select from your teacher’s
choices so use this test format
to your advantage.
Prepare in several
ways: Read the assigned materials carefully; Take and study
good lecture notes; Review and
put the material in your own
words; Make maps and webs
to connect concepts; Practice
writing responses to questions
you predict may be on the
exam.
Once you have read
and understand the question,
write your answers in paragraphs. Start with an introduction which restates the main
points of the question. For the
body of the response add
details and examples to
support your main points. At
the end, write a summary or
concluding remark of one or
two sentences. More secrets for writing exam questions will be revealed next
week. For additional study
skills tips, see hyperlink.